Under the Influence
by FreehanderBaird10716
Summary: Sokka, after the monstrosity of the Ember Island Players, feels bad for leading to the Gaang's downcast attitudes. So, he breaks out a couple of bottles of, you guessed it: Cactus Juice. Wanting to see how he must have acted in the desert, he stays sober and sits back to watch the chaos of an intoxicated Katara, Suki, Zuko, Aang, and Toph. Fluff. Nothing dirty. R R!
1. Prologue

**A/N:**

 **Will be a short story that covers what the summary says: Each member of the Gaang on Cactus Juice.**

 **(One chapter per member's POV.)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender**

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Prologue

No one, at the time, knew Sokka was able to buy and smuggle out some Cactus Juice in Ba Sing Se, and then continue to hold on to it for a lull in activity or celebration of some sorts. He didn't get a chance to open it immediately after they fled Ba Sing Se though, for they all were concerned about Aang's recovery, how they were to travel undetected until Aang woke up, and planning the invasion on the Day of Black Sun.

The first time Sokka even considered his Cactus Juice again was after the invasion while he, Katara, Aang, Toph, and now Zuko, were hiding out at the Western Air Temple. Most days were very routine: hours upon hours of practicing and training and in the evening, lounging about. This regularity got a bit boring to Sokka eventually, and he started to consider breaking out his case of Cactus Juice to spice things up a bit. Instead, though, he decided to be more constructive and cash in his "Life-Changing Field Trip With Zuko" card, afterwards ready to admit that the Fire Prince had become a very valuable and helpful member of Team Avatar.

Activity picked up after that, spending time with his father and Suki, and then being attacked at the temple by Azula. Soon Sokka was the embodiment of worry, yet indescribable happiness, since Zuko and Katara were on a life changing field trip now and Suki was a tent away.

But, his sister made him nervous, especially with all that hate she had towards Zuko. Sokka understood where it came from, and why he was the embodiment of evil (since he was the son of the Firelord) in her mind, but even Sokka, who was Kya's son too, couldn't make himself hate like his sister did. What happened happened, and for him, taking out the Firelord, or the big man in charge of everything, would be revenge enough.

Zuko and Katara, thankfully, both came back in one piece. Katara, much to Aang's relief, did not kill Yan Ra, and was ready to move past and accept Zuko into the group and more importantly, as a human being with feelings and issues of his own. That was the highlight of the week, until the Ember Island Players debuted their rendition of Team Avatar's adventures.

Sokka, at first, was disgusted at the actor's portrayals of the most exciting and life-changing year of his life, but once he accepted that this was just Fire Nation propaganda, he decided to have fun with it and add his own trickster's flair.

Though having fun with making fun of the past year, he was very aware of everyone else's reactions. Toph, excited that she was played by a big brute of a man, was still sensitive towards her best friends' feelings too and showed a real caring side that she never showed after Torture Fest was over. Especially towards Zuko.

Toph had known Katara and Aang and him for a bit now and had a good feeling of their workings and mindsets, but Zuko was roughly a month into his new gig. And to her, he was the equivalent of a piece of paper. Even Sokka, who had been accused of being insensitive, had to admit that Zuko functioned a little "strangely". The boy's emotions changed on a whim, he was periodically, well, _delicate_ , but at the same time had enough capacity for good sarcasm to rival Sokka, the meat and sarcasm guy himself. Sokka, though, didn't like to judge him. He had no right to judge Zuko anyways, now that he was aware of his past motives, blind ambitions, and history of his own.

After they came back "home" from the play, Zuko looked like he didn't know what to do with himself. Spirits, Sokka knew he wouldn't want all of his past infractions and sins to be presented to the world in such an inaccurate, insulting form. And on top of that, the play showed him _dying_. Dying! Last year, Sokka would have been all over Zuko not being a worry nagging at him all the time, but now, since they had established a brotherly bond between themselves, "Zuko dying" had the same effect as "Suki" or "Katara dying" on him.

But Sokka, who was never good at affection speeches, left comforting Zuko to Toph. (She tended to listen a lot better than he did, anyways.)

The two of them spent roughly an hour on the beach, just sitting there. It didn't look like much conversation transpired between them, but seeing Zuko as pouty and obviously distraught and worried as he was spoke enough to Sokka.

And in that moment, he decided that his time had come. Quickly, before anyone could draw him away to do something or Zuko disappeared on them like he sometimes did, he ran to his room.

The Firelord's vacation house on Ember Island was the most luxurious and plush place he had ever stayed in. Piando's mansion came close to this level of comfort and beauty, but even covered in a thick layer of dust and feeling as if someone had died in the vacation house, the sword master's place of residence couldn't compare. On multiple occasions, Sokka had almost gotten lost from the sheer grandeur of it all. If he hadn't run into Zuko, who seemed to move through his family's house like he was looking for something, only the spirits knew what he could have found or how many meals he would have missed.

Digging under his bed, Sokka searched for his insulated and cushioned satchel that contained two bottles of Cactus Juice. Since he knew first hand how much punch this stuff packed, two bottles, roughly three servings a piece, he had decided would be efficient for anything.

"Guys! I have a surprise for you!" Sokka called, making his way to the main courtyard, carrying his satchel. "I figure that we need a mood booster after that Spirit-awful play that we just had the misfortune to witness."

Toph and Zuko were coming up the main path from the beach, joining Aang and Katara who had been whispering feverishly to each other in the courtyard. Suki came out from her room at the sound of her boyfriend's calls.

"Sokka, you were the one that dragged us to the play." Aang said, looking tired and a bit uneasy.

"And I warned you how bad they were," Zuko added, coming to stand by them with Toph in tow.

"Yeah...Good point. But, I want to make up for it," Sokka continued, wrapping his free arm around Zuko's shoulders. "Now, if you could go find us some nice party glasses good sir, we can all forget this happened." Sokka unlatched his satchel and brought out the two bottles of Cactus Juice. The bottles weren't labeled; since Sokka was smart enough to dispose of their labels so no one knew what their contents were when he purchased them.

"These bad boys I picked up at the market," Sokka started. "I thought we may need a treat, since we're doing the impossible here, but I guess that we could use a good pick-me-up right about now, ay?"

Zuko sighed, slipping away from Sokka's brotherly embrace and stalking off to where the glassware was stored in the vacation house, knowing that it was better to go with Sokka instead of against him.

"Shouldn't we be getting some rest, Sokka?" Katara asked, looking tired even for a waterbender after the moon had come out.

"Oh, the night's still young. And what's a late night? Aang's been working hard enough lately to sleep in tomorrow! I've been watching how hard my man has been training with not one, but THREE bending masters!" Sokka exclaimed, moving over to affectionately nudge Aang. "So, that's why I want Avatar Aang to do the honors by popping the first bottle open as soon as Zuko gets back with our glasses...AHH! There he is! The rate you move around that house of yours! If I wasn't right in the head I would have thought you were an airbender running at light speed!"

"What are you trying to sell us, Sokka?" Toph butted in, crossing her arms defiantly, sensing that Sokka was warming up to something big.

"Nothing! I just know it's been an emotional night, and that I made us go down that direction. What does a guy have to do to make up with his best friends and have a good time with them?" He asked, grabbing the glasses from Zuko and lining them up on the stairs.

Katara eyed him, very aware of the possible motives of her brother as he did this and handed the bottle to Aang. Aang popped it open without a second thought, obviously not really caring, and at this point Katara couldn't have cared less as well. She was tired from an emotional and nostalgic evening and was definitely _not_ looking forward to getting up early tomorrow to do chores and train and fall into her routine again.

"Will you hit me up already, Sokka?" Katara asked.

Sokka smiled, taking the open bottle from Aang and pouring them all a glass. He handed each of them one with only a shot in it, or just enough for each of them to empty the first bottle.

"On three, we all drink. One, two…" Sokka trailed. Everyone got ready. "Three!"

Knowing how potent this stuff was, and wanting to see how he must have acted on this stuff, he barely took a sip while everyone opened up their throats and took it all in one swig. The effect was almost immediate.

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 **A/N: We'll see how this goes...  
**

 **Not sure how well I'll write drunks...**

 **R+R!**


	2. CH 1: Toph

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender.**

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Chapter One: Toph

Since it's _always_ a good idea to get a blind person drunk and delusional. Just because Toph _was_ sight-impaired, though, didn't necessarily mean she was exempt from any of the side effects of the Cactus Juice. Her head spun like a top and the ground beneath her likewise. Since her senses were dulled, (or maybe they were heightened, Toph couldn't decide,) it was difficult to determine distance and feel her way anywhere. Plus, nothing felt like it normally would anymore. Zuko right next to her felt like he was standing on the other side of the courtyard. Appa felt like he was the weight of a small mountain, and Sokka literally seemed to float like an airbender among them all.

Toph was confused and pretty overwhelmed by the sudden change that was bestowed upon her by Sokka's 'treat.'

"What, what, _IS_ this stuff?" She sputtered, unable to put words together.

"Like I said, a treat for you all, since I thought we'd all need something special," Sokka explained, coming to stand in front of her. "How do you feel?"

"Ahhhh! I feel so _light_ now that you mention it, Sokka!" Aang said, standing up to stretch. "Wow! True meaning of 'airbender' over here! I feel entirely made by the stuff!"

"No, no no! Aang, don't leave! We, we were just talking about something...something important!" Katara called to him, though he was still standing right next to her.

"Katara dear, there's no reason to yell!" Suki cut in, pressing her palms to her ears.

"Spirits, Sokka! Seriously, what _is_ this stuff?!" Aang inquired of him.

"Well, if you insist...It's this special foreign brew I got for a great deal called free! Reminded me of our scamming days, Toph!" Sokka said, clapping her on the back. Toph wasn't ready for it, and fell face-forward onto the ground, just barely able to brace herself.

"Oh _no_ Toph are you OK? Sokka what were you thinking you could have hurt Toph do you have anything to say for yourself?" Katara said breathlessly, tears starting to suddenly well in her eyes.

"Whoa there, sis. It was an accident, wasn't it? I didn't mean for Toph to fall down and go boom!"

"Oh, I'll give you 'fall down and go boom,' Sokka!" Toph snapped at him, impulsively very angry and short tempered when just a few minutes ago she was listening very intently and patiently to Zuko. Toph staggered up and immediately launched herself at Sokka, who was just sober enough to dodge her in the nick of time. She tripped over her own two feet and fell onto the cobblestone again.

"Oh! Why do we have to be fighting?" Katara moaned, rubbing away a tear.

"Movin' like the wind, Toph!" Aang exclaimed, jogging in place since he couldn't sit still. "Who wants to go for a fly?"

"No one, airhead!" Toph spat, standing back up warily. Everybody and everything was a blur to her feet, and were those, _shadows_ her blind eyes picking up?

Sokka's laughing and Katara's crying suddenly were very loud to her ears, not allowing her to think clearly about her potentially new sight capabilities. Toph wanted to scream.

Out of the blue, someone's hand found its way to her shoulder.

"Don't touch me!" Toph spat, shoving the hand away and sitting down where she was. She tried to bend herself a footstool so she couldn't see how much everything seemed off, but since her depth perception wasn't accurate, she accidentally thought her feet were where Suki was standing in front of her.

"Ouch! Toph! That was my foot!" Suki exclaimed.

"Sorry, sorry…" Toph trailed, trying to get her bearings. Tentatively, she attempted a second go at her footstool. She buried her head in her arms and focused on herself: her size, position, and location relative to everyone else. Though the cobblestone beneath her felt like sand in the wind, she was able to anchor to some of it and craft herself a suitable footstool.

"Having issues bending, Toph?" Suki asked, kneeling down close to her, talking softly so not spook her.

"Ohhh! Looks like the Avatar needs a new earthbending teacher! The great Toph Beifong can't bend!" Sokka jeered.

"Shut up, Sokka!" Suki and Toph chorused back. Katara broke down sobbing.

"It's OK. I'm not sure why you're having issues…Such a lovely night out, isn't it? This little concoction of Sokka's is making the stars look all the brighter…" Suki said in her attempt at comforting Toph.

"I'm _blind_ , you people! Can't you _see_ that?" She snapped, swatting away Suki. Or at least trying too. Toph only flailed a bit in the wrong direction, and ended up trying to gracefully turn her miscalculation into barely a successful attempt at standing.

"Immma take this crazy mind trip inside and away from all you idiots, if you don't mind!" She snapped, swaying.

Trying to focus on her seismic sense to get back to her room, she blocked out Katara's pathetic sobbing and calls for her to come back, (" _We were having such a great time!_ "), Aang's nonstop chatter and movement, as well as Sokka's snarky comments.

Slowly, she took a step forward, reading the ground. Then another, and another. The closer she got to the nearest hallway, though, the further away her feet told her it was, and right as she decided to stupidly just wing it, she ran smack-dab into a support beam.

"SON OF A BITCH MY NOSE!" Toph hollered at the top of her lungs, furiously rubbing at her face to quell the pain that had spread throughout her from the impact.

The collision took all the previous fight right out of her. She couldn't believe it, but tears started to well in the corners of her eyes from all the anger she felt. Whatever Sokka had given them had taken away her only source of reliable interaction with the world around her, and it was terrifying, flying blind.

Much to her dismay, no one else had seemed to realize that she was struggling. Someone must have said something horrifyingly funny and at the perfect time, judging by the ear-splitting laughter of her companions, allowing them all to forget Toph right when her moment of greatest need struck. Irrationally, Toph's drugged up mind thought that they were all laughing at her, and that's why no one (according to her feet) was coming to assist her.

The great Toph Beifong, in that moment, felt so weak, alone, and hapless. Never had she felt such great and depressing emotion override her confidence and pride in her ability, and she had put up with her parents for thirteen years telling her how fragile and unfortunate she was to be blind.

Yes, being blind had its downsides, but most of the time it was nothing she couldn't overcome and/or work around. Toph knew what Appa and Momo looked like, though she couldn't tell you any fur patterns, and she could pick out a single person a mile away. She wasn't typically blessed with the patience to play therapist for someone, but her feet were experts at picking up feelings through heartbeats, and she had friends to help her translate papers and tell her all the detailed stuff.

 _Or so you thought._

Toph, for the first time in her life, took pity on herself and tried to cry her way through it like a 'normal' person did. Her senses, already enhanced by trying to make up for her loss of sight, were not helping her in her attempts to forget where she was, who she was with, and her current challenges. Toph could still feel the Firelord's beach house, a sprawling structure that weaved in and out and all over the damn island, and her clumsy so-called 'friends' staggering about, giggling and snapping at each other.

A hand, almost as if the air around her had materialized it, gently rested on her shoulder. Toph jumped a bit, surprised that someone had in fact come and was paying attention to her.

"Toph?" That voice saying her name made her stomach flutter a bit, thanks to the Cactus Juice only maybe, since Toph felt something else deep inside her heart making her smile at Zuko's gruff, yet oddly soothing, voice.

"Are you alright?" Zuko sat down next to her, carefully wrapping his arm around her slumped shoulders. He drew her into a half hug.

Toph shook her head and viciously wiped away her tears. She couldn't let this newest addition to Team Avatar see her, the self-proclaimed toughest of the group, cry like a kid and think her weak. Never would she ever let something as stupid as getting upset over running into a post show her insecurities, drug-induced or not.

She rested her head on his shoulder and quietly spoke.

"I can't get to my room."

Zuko, almost as if he didn't hear her, continued to stay put and gently rub circles on Toph's back.

He let his mind wonder about the small girl beside him, and think of the things that he typically hated thinking about, since his relationships with other people made him all squirmy on the inside. But he couldn't help it. There had been respect for Toph that he had built up over the past few weeks after getting to know her, and only just now was he able to put a finger on that particular feeling he got when he was around her.

Zuko sat in his trace for what seemed like an eternity to Toph, though it had only been a few nanoseconds.

"Sparky!" Toph yelled into his ear, afraid that he had become hard of hearing. "Please assist me to my room _now_ , will you?"

 _Yes,_ Zuko thought. _I've finally got her pegged…_

"Yes, Miss Beifong. I would be more than happy to show you to your living quarters for the time being…" And in a flash, Zuko picked up Toph bridal style.

"All secure?"

 _Man, is he strong…_ Toph noticed as she nodded yes.

"Then let's goooo!" He shouted, running with her into the beach house. Toph giggled. She liked this less broody and more prone to laughing and joking around Zuko.

"YIP YIP!"

Zuko zoomed through the house with ease, carefully maneuvering his way around corners and up stairs so Toph couldn't get banged up, purposefully taking 'the long way' to her room.

"Wheeee! Faster, Appa! Faster!"

They were flying through each hallway and laughing so hard that Zuko couldn't believe that A: he hadn't tripped up by now, and B: he was still able to have blissful moments like these when he was a kid again.

And to share it with his little sister…

Trying his best to imitate animal noises, Zuko slowly jogged his way to Toph's room which was, incidentally, Azula's old one.

"Phsss. This is your captain speaking. We are coming in for a landing…" And Zuko kicked open Toph's door, bobbing and weaving this way and that for dramatic effect before plopping her down on her bed.

Oh, did Toph laugh…

"Can you be like this more often, Zuko? It's not like you're _too_ brooding and mopey and pessimistic but you're brooding and mopey and pessimistic…And you know how to goof around almost as much as Sokka does…It's not like we _don't_ need you're reality checks but you're so, so _different_ when you don't seemed to be weighed down and I know _I love it_ …" She was cut off by a gentle finger to her lips.

"Say no more, o' little sister of mine. Your wish is my command…" And with that he tucked her in bed tightly, and ever so lightly, kissed his own hand and in turn placed it on her cheek.

"Nighty night, sleep tight…"

"Don't let the bed bugs bite, big brother."

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 **A/N: And that was my first attempt at writing brotherly!Zuko and sisterly!Toph.**

 **Eh...Not perfect but it's something for right now. The writing style is throwing me...**

 **R+R as always though :)**


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